Fremd's strong start does in Warren

This time, a fast start wasn't a problem.

"A couple of games this season, we started rough and not confident in ourselves. We would find ourselves in a hole," Fremd senior guard Jake Schoffstall said. "Today, we showed that when we play with confidence, we can start off strong right from the start."

A strong start by the Vikings on Saturday night was key in a 64-48 nonconference win at Warren.

Fremd (3-3) held Warren to just 1 field goal for nearly the entire first quarter until Andrew Dolan hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer. But that only cut Fremd's lead to 14-5. The hot-shooting Vikings then added to that lead in the second quarter to take a 14-point advantage (27-13) into the halftime locker room.

Schoffstall says that some early-season nerves that were hampering the Vikings over the first few games are no longer a factor.

"Experience-wise, we have some new guys but now they are playing with more confidence and playing the way they need to play," said Schoffstall, who finished with a game-high 18 points. "As a senior, I've just been trying to calm them down and be supportive and tell them about sticking to the fundamentals and their strengths."

Defense seemed to be a strength for the Vikings in the first half. While they hit many of their own shots, they limited Warren to just 4 field goals.

"We did not come out with the intensity that Fremd did tonight," Warren coach Jon Jasnoch said. "And Fremd was playing really good defense, and we weren't playing at the pace we needed to."

The pace stayed in Fremd's favor in the third quarter and the Vikings increased their lead to 18 points (45-27), thanks in part to four 3-pointers, including 2 from reserve guard Russ Beaupre and 1 from Charlie Towns, who finished with 12 points.

But Warren (2-4) didn't go away. Multiple times in the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils cut a double-digit Fremd lead to single digits.

Juan De La Cruz and Adnan Sarancic each had 6 points in the fourth quarter as the Blue Devils got their deficit down to as few as 9 points.

"We had a lack of energy early," said De La Cruz, who just joined the team from his run to the state championship game as a linebacker with the Warren football team. He was playing in his first basketball game and finished with a team-high 14 points.

"It was a pretty physical game, so we just had to play more physical. We got back into it slowly."

Warren also got double-figures from Sarancic (12 points) and Josh Turner (10 points).

Meanwhile, Max Wexley was one of Fremd's three double-digit scorers and helped cinch the game with big fourth-quarter free throws. He went 6-of-8 from the line in the fourth to finish with 17 points. Schoffstall also hit 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch.

"We really came out with a lot of energy and focus," Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said. "We got off to a real nice start. We've been lacking some consistency in some of our starts. We started off with good offense and good defense. This is the best start we've had so far this season and we're looking to build on that."